a new view on things
by SkiGirraffe
Summary: courtney wakes up one night to a realization that could change all of their lives r&r! It's like a... three shot. I might change it to one chapter so it can properly be a one-shot.


**Well, this was meant to be a one-shot type of thing, but over the days since I did that first chapter, a plot started formulating in my head, and it seems pretty good to me, so now I'm gonna post it and get other peoples' feedback. Oh, and by the way, this is assuming Bobby ever DOES come back from Ibara. **

**Disclaimer: DJ MacHale's da man… ****I'm not.**

**So… read and review, my crickets, read and review…**

**I AM A RAVENOUS REVIEW-EATING MONSTER… FEED ME!! **

Courtney sat bolt upright in bed.

"I GOT IT!" she screamed. She slapped a hand over her mouth, hoping she hadn't woken her parents. She picked up her jeans that she wore the day before and searched through the pockets. Finally after what felt like ages she found what she was looking for. She pressed her #2 speed dial on her cell phone and waited impatiently as Mark's phone rang.

"Mm?" answered a very tired Bobby, who was staying with Mark at his house.

"I got it!" Courtney said again, quieter, but not with any less enthusiasm.

"what?" grunted Bobby.

"he gave us the answer!"

"who??" grumbled Bobby, getting pissed.

"Saint Dane!"

"wha..?" he asked with a yawn.

"you know how he said you're an illusion?"

"yeah…"

"he didn't mean just YOU, he meant all travelers!"

"duh, Courtney, I knew that. You called at 2AM to tell me that?? GOOD-BYE!"

"NO WAIT!" Courtney yelled, not caring if she was loud anymore.

"what??" Bobby snapped.

"he didn't mean the living, breathing travelers, he meant travelers in general, like, the idea of them."

Bobby was fully awake now.

"so, what you're trying to say is that I'm flesh and bones, but what I'm doing isn't real?"

"yeah, sorta."

"oh, gosh, Courtney, I think you're on to something…"

There was a silence, then Courtney said,

"you know, to an extent, this could mean that everything you're doing is and illusion. What you think is right is wrong. So, maybe, just maybe, it could mean that what you're doing seems right, but it's not the right thing to do. Maybe we WANT saint dane to win."

There was a silence on the line for a while, which neither of the people on opposite ends of it wanted to break. Yet someone had to.

"Ugh, Courtney, why do you always think of these things in the middle of the night? Couldn't your great ideas wait until the sun's up? Besides, it's a dumb idea," there was a pause. "Sorry, I just can't really grasp that right now, and I know I'm acting like a jerk to just dismiss your idea. It's really good, like, actually… just let me get my mind around it 'k?"

"yeah, we're cool," said Courtney.

"let's meet at your house at, wait, you mentioned a brunch your parents are going to. when is that?"

"erm… 9:00"

"ok, I'll come over at 9:15ish then."

"uh, ok," said Courtney.

Bobby flopped back on the bed, almost crushing Mark. He lay there for a while trying to get a tidbit of an idea as to what this could mean. unable to come up with even that, he got up and lay in his sleeping bag.

sleep did not come easy. we all know how it is, trying to sleep, but thinking too hard against our will. after an hour or so, he finally drifted off into a restless sleep riddled with confusing dreams of Saint Dane and Travelers and Courtney, everyone turning into a different person when he least expected it. He woke when the sun made its stealthy way through the curtains and into the bedroom. Bobby got up, relieved he was awake. He glanced at his watch. it was 7:30; he had an hour.

Courtney tried to get some sleep, but thinking about what she had to do kept her awake. eventually she gave up and got out of bed.

she glanced at her clock radio. it was 5:30; she had three hours.

The knob wouldn't turn anymore. just the way he wanted it. Bobby stepped in and breathed in quickly through his teeth. cold showers always got him. he stayed in as long as he could bear, then got out willingly. he got dressed as soon as he was dry. he lay back down on the bed, for Mark was up too, now. he, for the millionth time that day, tried to get a grip on this new concept. and, for the millionth time that day, came up empty handed. mostly his thinking was just, "we WANT Saint Dane to win?? wait, we WANT Saint Dane to win??" over and over. he yawned and sat up, still tired, despite his rousing shower. he walked into the kitchen to find Mark sleepily eating cereal and staring at the back of the box, but not really reading it. He grunted a kind of good morning, then went back to concentrating on _spoon up, chew, chew, swallow, spoon down_. Bobby went to start some coffee and put a bagel in the toaster. He wasn't sure if Mark had heard his late night conversation with Courtney, and if he hadn't, he debated whether or not he should tell Mark about the latest possibility. he decided to take it slow and discover the former first.

"so, how'd you sleep?" he asked casually.

"like a baby. you?"

"oh, I woke up a couple times in the middle of the night. Once at twoish, and I could NOT get to sleep afterwards!"

"man, that sucks. I slept nonstop from eleven to eight-thirty!"

so that was settled. mark had not heard the phone conversation. then, "wait, what time is it??" Bobby whirled around to the oven. 9:05! "Dang it! Mark, bike please!"

"huh?"

"your bike, I borrow! come on, man, get with it, I have to go!"

"where?"

"just answer the question!"

Mark yawned. "yeah, I guess, just where are you going?"

instead of answering, Bobby called over his shoulder, "be back soon… I think."

and with that, he was out the door and on his way.

Bobby rode like a madman, to put it simply. He cut off at least 3 cars, ran about a thousand red lights, and was sweating profusely by the time he got to Courtney's house. He parked his bike, or rather, Mark's, and checked his watch. It was just turning 9:13. He sat down for a breather and wiped the sweat of his forehead. After he'd gotten his breath back, he stood up and stretched. The door around back led straight to a stairway downstairs, so Bobby went around to that door. He walked right in like he always did and headed to the basement where the trio always had Traveler-related pow-pows. He settled into a shabby couch and glanced down at his watch. 9:15, on the dot. He leaned back and closed his eyes. After a bit he checked his watch again and saw that it was 9:22. Leave it to Courtney to be late. Bobby settled in further and dozed off. He was roused by a stomach grumbling, telling him that he had neglected his toast and coffee. A look at his watch let him know that it was 9:47. Where the heck was she?? He resolved to stay until ten. He got up to search the house. What could have happened?? Maybe Courtney had slipped in the shower and broken her leg, and then lay there, nearly blacking out from pain, only to drown. Maybe she had choked on breakfast and was sitting lifeless at the table. Maybe she had fallen down the stairs, landed on a coat rack and punctured her lung. Maybe she was writing something when she passed out from thinking of what her new concept could mean and fallen on her pen and it stabbed her in the heart. Who knows what happened? Oh, if only Bobby had come through the front door! He started running. First he checked all the showers, then the kitchen table, then in the coat closet. Where could she be? He ran to her room and looked for her on, under, or around her desk, then the one in the family office.

_Deep breaths, Bobby, deep breaths. _He told himself. _Her parents probably just asked her to run some errands while they were away. Chill out. _Bobby walked back downstairs to wait, and noticed that a paper on the table that he had taken for granted had his name on it. He picked it up.

_Really, Bobby, don't worry. Everything is ok. Maybe I'll see you soon. But I'm not sure. Really, all you need to know it that I'm safe and ok… and you need to know…_

_I. Love. You. Seriously, I do. Bobby… _

_Oh, shoot. Bye._

What in the world??

Courtney hadn't told him she loved him for ages. And they'd decided it wouldn't work out between them, what with his being a Traveler, right? Then it hit him. Courtney had committed suicide.

But what was with the choppy sentences?

"Wait…" Bobby muttered out loud. Was it in code? Maybe it was the first letter of each sentence.

REMBRLYSBB

No, maybe the last letter of each sentence.

YKNEIEUOYTE

No again. Wait, were the dot-dot-dots considered ends of sentences?

REMBRAILYSBOB

Salvageable. The BOB could be his name… so that would be REMBRAILYS left.

"Agh, it STILL makes no sense!" shouted Bobby. But what if the dot-dot-dots only counted as new sentences if it was a new paragraph? REMBRILYS would be left without the BOB. REMBR could mean remember… but ILYS? That just doesn't work. Bobby decided to move on to figuring out the last letter code instead, to see if that worked.

"WAIT!" Bobby yelled "'you' could be shortened as 'u' instead of 'y'!"

That would be ILUS, as in illusions! So it was "remember illusions, Bobby".

Oh.

She didn't commit suicide. She'd done something Bobby still considered worse.

She'd gone to run with Saint Dane.

**I AM A RAVENOUS REVIEW-EATING MONSTER… FEED ME!!**


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